


Palm to Palm

by The_IPRE



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Dancing, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_IPRE/pseuds/The_IPRE
Summary: Barry and Lup find themselves put in the spotlight during a undercover mission, and of course the only appropriate response is to shine.





	Palm to Palm

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by toooceanblue on tumblr!

“I trust you,” Lup murmured out of the corner of her mouth, making momentary eye contact with Barry as she held out a hand towards him. She looked away quickly enough, though, carefully light gaze flitting back over the crowd staring at them. “Do you trust me?”

Barry swallowed, feeling all too watched by the inhabitants of cycle 6. He had been trying to sneak through the party with Lup, hoping to commit a minor crime, do a heist, and steal the light of creation from where it had been put in the royal vaults, but upon stopping to take a peek at what the hors d'oeuvres were – not totally his fault, for the record, Lup had wanted to know what mushroom-esque fungi they had, and of course he couldn’t just say no to  _Lup_  – it had all gotten a bit fucked up.

What seemed like the entire population of the room had swiveled around to stare at the two of them, a sea of waving antennas and large, shining black eyes, and Barry would be the first to admit that he’d frozen. Even back home he hadn’t been the best at being put on the spot, and this was the farthest from home he’d ever been. 

Lup’s gloved hand was still held out towards him, though, faint strains of string music drifting across the thin air, and he wouldn't leave her hanging. After a quick readjustment of glasses he pressed his palm to hers, fingers curling around the gentle touch of pale skin to crimson velvet. Clearing his throat, he mumbled “I trust you, but-”

“I’ll lead, okay? Just follow my feet,” Lup said, cutting him off with a smile that went from almost nervous to simply  _alive_ in an instant as she stepped towards him, forcing him to take a step backwards. 

A few more steps,  _side, then forwards, then side, then back_ , and Barry was starting to get the hang of it, moving his outside feet and watching how they moved along the marble. It took all of his concentration to keep from losing track of what step he was on and what he was doing, and even though he heard murmuring from the crowd and music starting to pick up, he couldn’t tear his gaze from the black shoes making way for red flats along the delicately marbled floor. 

Lup squeezed his hand lightly, and he suddenly realized that his other hand was on her shoulder and hers was on his waist, directing their movements more and more fluidly as he started to trip over their feet less and less. “My eyes are up here, babe,” she said, and he could hear the brilliant smile in her voice. Even here, surrounded by people who were on the verge of hostility just a moment ago, she was having the time of her life. 

Against his better judgement, a smile crept onto his face, along with a blush that wasn’t  _quite_  as red as Lup’s shoes, but it was a close thing. “Oh, sorry about that, I’m, uh- well, I wasn’t exactly trained in  _ballroom dancing for my life_ back home. I-  _aw shit,”_  he muttered, glancing down again after his shoe caught the toe of Lup’s.

“Eh, no big, you won’t believe how many broken toes I caused when I was first learning.” Barry looked back up, and his gaze was caught by the way the turquoise lighting of the room reflected off of Lup’s deep brown eyes.

In his periphery, he could see others swirling, a smoother dance than what he was doing, but it blurred in the back of his mind. The others in the room might have been the reason that he had started dancing, but they weren't important anymore. “I- well, how many?” 

“None,” Lup said, laughing. “It was a close thing, though, and after a while Taako stopped practicing with me for his own safety.” Barry’s grin got wider, and he tucked away that particular tidbit. His ears were warm and his shoes were starting to pinch, but he was starting to get the hang of it, and he was dancing with  _Lup_ , and then she spun them around and said “Do you trust me?”

He nodded, because what else could he do, and then he was dipped backwards, and it took all of his strength not to flail because he  _really_  didn’t want to get dropped on that shining marble floor, but Lup’s arms held.

Barry didn’t fall, there was a hand at his waist and one at his shoulder holding him up, and Lup’s face, wide smile and laughing eyes so close to his, and he suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe but he would be  _fine_  with that if he could just stay like this for a little bit longer.

Her face was so close to his and his breath was held in his throat and if this was how he died, what a death it would be.

After another couple seconds, though – and what  _might_  have been a butt squeeze, but he wasn’t sure – Lup pulled him back to let him support his own weight. “Are the eyes off of us?”

Barry looked over her shoulder, watching the swaying and swirling bodies move together and apart on the dance floor, the music picking up as they twirled. Glancing back at Lup, he had a moment where he realized that he would trade all of that beauty, all of that knowledge, just to spend more time with her.  _Damn, spend six years with someone and you’re already getting sappy?_  Ignoring the fact that there was no way that she felt the same, he tucked those mushy thoughts away and gave her a nod. “We’re good to go.” Her grin was infectious, and he didn’t even try to hold the smile on his own face back. 

“Perfect.” Grabbing his hand, fingers twined together, she pulled him along the edge of the dance floor to the door on the far side of the room, and they made it through relatively unscathed. An antenna had swung towards Lup after someone’s particularly ambitious dip, but Barry had held her back just in time so that she didn’t get hit. 

Making it into the quieter hallway, Lup was  _laughing_ , and Barry couldn’t stop the laughter of his own that bubbled up. “You’re a good dancer,” he said, their paces quickening as they crept along the side of the hallway. Something told him that busting out their moves wouldn’t be quite as effective here as it was back in the ballroom.

“You’re not half bad yourself, stud,” Lup responded, pulling them into an alcove as a guard with a flickering torch pulled around a corner in front of them. “Profiterole?”

“What? I, uh- sure,” Barry whispered, cutting off his squawk of shock as she tossed a cream puff towards him. He fumbled it, but still caught it before it hit the floor, which counted as a win in his book. “Did you-”

“Steal those from the buffet line? Yes, I did, thank you for noticing,” Lup said with a grin, taking a bite out of one of her own. "I don't think that these are actually profiteroles, not how we knew them back home, but it's cream trapped between dough so that's close enough for me." She went to wipe her fingers on the material of her skirt before pausing, reconsidering, and flicking a prestidigitation to peel the last couple crumbs and strains of grease away from her hands. “Now, let’s hurry, guard-man is out of the way but who knows how long that’s gonna last. Mission Retrieve the Light and Look Good Doing It is a go?”

Barry grinned, a blush rising as Lup grabbed his hand and pulled him further down the hallway. He was so aware of his palm, pressed against velvet and held tight, and he matched Lup's pace as she started running. “Mission Retrieve the Light and Look Good Doing It is  _certainly_  a go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or come talk to me on tumblr at [the-ipre](https://the-ipre.tumblr.com)!


End file.
